1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording apparatus to be used in the ink jet recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with the enhancement of image quality and the increase in recording speed, an ink jet recording apparatus has had increasing opportunities for being used not only in outputting photographic images and Web pages at home but also in the business field such as offices. Ink for an ink jet recording apparatus to be used for output objects such as business documents has been required to have reliability such as high-level ejection stability and to exhibit advanced image characteristics. For example, the ink has been required to be capable of recording an image excellent in highlighter resistance in which the surface of the image is not contaminated easily even when a marking pen or the like is dragged on the surface. In order to satisfy the above-mentioned demands, for example, an attempt has been made so as to enhance the fastness of an image to be recorded through use of ink having added thereto a resin (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-285344).
On the other hand, in the case where aqueous ink containing a resin is ejected to perform recording through use of an ink jet recording apparatus having mounted thereon a recording head having a water-repellent face subjected to water-repellent treatment as an ejection orifice face provided with an ejection orifice, there arises a new problem in that ejection failure or the like is liable to occur. The ejection orifice face subjected to water-repellent treatment is hereinafter sometimes referred to as “water-repellent face.” For example, ink having added thereto a resin having characteristics of easily adhering or adsorbing to the water-repellent face is liable to be accumulated in the vicinity of the ejection orifice. Therefore, an ink droplet to be ejected from the ejection orifice is attracted to the ink accumulated in the vicinity of the ejection orifice, with the result that the ink droplet is applied to a position different from an intended position. Such degradation in ejection accuracy significantly influences the quality of an image to be recorded.
When a resin having high water solubility is added to ink, the contact angle of the ink with respect to the water-repellent face can be kept high. Therefore, a resin having a high acid value has been added to aqueous ink in order to relieve the above-mentioned problem of the degradation in ejection accuracy. The wetting and spreading of ink on the water-repellent face is suppressed through use of the resin having a high acid value, with the result that the ink is less liable to be accumulated in the vicinity of the ejection orifice.
On the other hand, there has also been proposed a recording apparatus in which the removability of ink in the vicinity of the ejection orifice is enhanced. For example, there has been proposed a recording apparatus including a cleaning member capable of cleaning an ejection orifice face by wiping, in which the removability of ink is enhanced by selecting an appropriate wiping speed in accordance with the viscosity of the ink (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-341080). Further, it has been proposed that the recording apparatus includes a unit for wiping the ejection orifice face and a unit for heating the surface, and the viscosity of accumulated ink is lowered by heating the vicinity of the ejection orifice before wiping to enhance the removability of the accumulated ink (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-263024 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-254463). It has also been proposed that the unit for wiping is heated, and a liquid different from ink is prepared for wiping and wiping is performed while supplying the liquid in a heated state to the ejection orifice face to enhance the removability of the accumulated ink (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-169201 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-101632).